


Flesh and Blood

by jmpinnix95



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Awkward Flirting, Blood and Violence, Canon Het Relationship, Crime Fighting, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dark Past, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Murder, Night Terrors, Non-Canon Relationship, Original Character(s), Past Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shadowbending & Shadowbenders, Vampire Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:00:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21910435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmpinnix95/pseuds/jmpinnix95
Summary: This is an AU where vampires are legal citizens of the United States. And because they also commit crimes and are the victims of crimes you need profilers for them. This new team member is THE expert on vampires, since ya know she is one. Now they must all try and work together despite their differences.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/William LaMontagne Jr., Penelope Garcia/Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 73





	1. Introductions

The building hummed with human activity. Bustling hither and thither, paperwork sticking out of various briefcases and manila folders, shoes clacking on the stone floor. Her sensitive ears picked up every little noise; every heartbeat and grumbled word. Blue eyes flicked back and forth searching for her new boss (the word caused and internal groan) a woman named Strauss. It was past time for her first day to start and still no one had appeared. The centuries old woman tapped her foot reflecting on how exactly she ended up here.

The humans were not very thrilled with their existence. Sure, vampires lived among them secretly for centuries, but having them out in the light was a legal nightmare. They had to establish rights, laws, and all kinds of infrastructure. The younger ones of her kind were less opposed to it than ones her age. They had lived solitary and ungoverned for centuries. Now here they were having to remember names and birth dates for documentation. 

Then came the problem of who would enforce these laws. How would you, a soft squishy human, arrest something that could bench press a car with knives for incisors? You don't. You get another creature to do the dirty work. And that's what she had been roped into doing by her coven leader. She was old enough to go out in the sunlight and had a mastery of shadowmancy. She didn't want to leave her home to corral her kind. Who would? The law was such that if a vampire killed a human it was instant death. Murder, even government sanctioned murder, wasn't her cup of tea. 

Her ears perked up at the mention of her name several floors above. A smirk played on her lips someone seem disappointed with her appearance. Not seeing the woman who was supposed to take her upstairs, she focused on pulling shadows towards her and moved through them until she was in the right place. She came out of the wall slowly one limb at a time, head and torso first she emerged from the wriggling mass of shadows. "What," she drawled fangs visible in her smirk. "You were expecting Dracula?" 

A young woman in colorful clothes and blonde hair gave a squeak of surprise as she finished exiting the shadows. A quick glance around the room saw quite a few hands on holsters. Didn't they know bullets were useless? A voice came from the front of the room. "Agent Klein, nice of you to join us."

The monotone voice came from a tall man with dark hair in a suit at the front of the room. He must be the team leader. "Apologies Sir, my guide never showed."

Her eyes panned around the room taking in the variety of faces. "Nice to meet you all. My name is Elizabeth Klein, I'm your vampire expert."

The colorful woman came up to her and shot out a hand in greeting. "Penelope Garcia, tech goddess extraordinaire. Can I ask just one eensy question?"

Elizabeth took the proffered hand and gave it a light shake. "I can't promise to have an answer but I can try."

"How old are you? Like actually? Your file says thirty-five but does that mean you've been a vampire for thirty-five years? Or you became a vampire at thirty-five? Or-"

A man with a deep rich voice spoke up. "Garcia, breathe."

Elizabeth's eyes flicked over to see who the voice belonged to. There was an attractive African American man about the same age as Ms. Garcia sitting at the long table with his arms folded across his chest. Very muscular. Elizabeth thought. "I was turned at thirty-five, but I have been for…" she paused to do a bit of mental math. "Five hundred some odd years?"

Truly she wasn't exactly sure but it was close enough. She sat and took in the rest of the people sitting around the long table. There was a young man with brown hair, a woman with long straight hair, another woman with shoulder length black hair, the man who Garcia seemed close to, and an older man with facial hair. The older man leaned over and offered his hand. "David Rossi, good to have you on the team."

Elizabeth shook his hand and offered a practiced smile that hid her fangs. "Good to be here Agent Rossi."

The next to offer their hand was the man who had instructed Garcia to breathe. "Derek Morgan."

She nodded and shook his hand as well. The blonde smiled and shook her hand next. "Jennifer Jareau, call me JJ."

"Thank you, JJ, I will do that."

The darker haired woman extended a pale hand toward the vampire. "SSA Emily Prentiss."

Elizabeth nodded and turned her eyes now to the youngest member of the team. "Oh I don't shake hands too many germs," the words tumbled out quickly.

She let out a chuckle. "Fair enough. Nice to meet you…"

"Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Now that introductions are over," Hotchner interjected. "Let's get into this case. Garcia?"

"Right," she moved in front of the projector screen and faced the assembled agents. "Alright crime fighters if you look on your tablets now you'll see the gross nastiness awaiting you in the fair land of Bartlesville, Oklahoma."

Elizabeth picked up the tablet and swiped through the pictures. The scene was horrible to be sure, women in unnaturally contorted positions eyes blank and mouths frozen in a permanent scream. She pinched and zoomed in on the screen, brows furrowed. Even though they were covered in gashes there was no blood anywhere in the crime scene photos.

"Garcia," Elizabeth murmured, "Did they establish whether or not they were killed at the scene?"

"Good eye! Yes, the Bartlesville coroner's office believe that the victims were killed where the bodies were found."

"So," Morgan interjected, taking a closer look at the photos. "If they were killed here, with this level of violence, where is all the blood?"

"There are between nine and twelve pints of blood in the average adult person. Factoring in the amount of lacerations to the skin we should expect to see between two and five pints surrounding the bodies. But I don't even see a drop. Garcia did they find signs the scene had been cleaned after?" Dr. Reid looked through a stack of papers he had on hand, eyes darting quickly across the pages.

Garcia shook her head. "Crime scene found no evidence of bleach of other industrial cleaners at the scene. No forced entry, no signs of sexual assault, and nothing obvious was missing from the homes."

Agent Hotchner frowned ever-so-slightly and grabbed his briefcase. "Wheels up in thirty team."


	2. Locomotion

Two world wars, battles a plenty, endless skirmishes between petty lords; and this plane would be the thing that killed the vampire. Her hands clenched and unclenched on the jet's arm rests; nails digging into the upholstery. If humans had been meant to fly; the Gods would've given them that ability. Agents Hotchner and Prentiss sat across from her, thumbing through their files intensely focused on the information Bartlesville had sent them. Reid, Morgan, and JJ sat on the opposite side of the aisle. Letting out a slow breath she went back to the photos. Something seemed _off_ about the crime scene, aside from the obvious missing blood. The scenes were pristine. Not a single thing was knocked over, jostled, or otherwise misplaced. With the degree of violence to the women's bodies there should be _something_ out of place. 

"Do you see something Klein?" Morgan's smooth voice brought her to reality. 

"I am a little baffled," she admitted, glancing up from the photos. "I know we're going into this with a strong lean toward vampires-" 

"We don't make any assumptions before we see all the evidence," Hotchner interrupted.

"Correct," she murmured a bit disgruntled. "However, the lack of blood does tend to lean in that direction." 

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Prentiss interjected, sharp and clear. "But vampires can't just make a whole person's worth of blood disappear."

Elizabeth nodded and pulled a pint bag from her carry on. "This is enough to sustain someone my age for two weeks. The older we get the less often and less volume we need to intake. Conversely, young vampires can feed daily and take about double this amount. In order to make this amount disappear it would take-" 

"Twelve vampires your age or six young vampires depending on the amount of blood lost during the attack," Spencer finished. 

A small smile tugged at her lips. Agent Rossi turned in his seat to face them. "Either way with that number of unsubs, human or not, you'd expect to see more disturbance at the scene. But it's almost as if whoever came in and left without touching a single thing." 

"Elizabeth, you came in through the wall how many vampires have that ability?" Prentiss leaned forward meeting her eyes. 

"I don't know the exact number but," she opened her laptop and fired up a video call. 

Garcia answered immediately, a colorful pen in her hand. "Goddess of all knowledge speaking, submit your query."

Derek chuckled across the aisle from the vampire. Elizabeth smiled. "Miss Garcia, is there any way you could pull a list of the registered vampires around Bartlesville? We're looking for ones who might have a similar ability to shadowmancy or shadow bending." 

"I like the way you think, Dracula. Back in a flash!"

Elizabeth was unsure how to respond and just gave a head shake. “Vampires in general can develop a few different abilities as they age but manipulating shadows is relatively rare.”

Prentiss seemed satisfied enough with her answer. Morgan however, chimed in. “So, are you saying we _shouldn’t_ be looking for a vamp?”

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip, worrying at the skin. “There is another possibility, but it is almost unheard of to work in this way.”

Spencer seemed very intrigued. “Are you talking about mind control?”

“Hold on, you’re telling me they can mind control people?” Derek seemed both offended and flabbergasted.

“It doesn’t work quite like that,” Elizabeth assured him. “It’s a very rare and niche ability, but it isn’t like you see in the movies. You would need to have permission to enter someone’s mind and you can’t make someone harm themselves. The brain won’t let it happen.”

Hotchner pursed his lips and shut the file. “We’ll be landing soon. Morgan and Rossi, you go to the latest victim’s home and see what you can get from the crime scene. Prentiss and JJ, interview the families and see if they’ve noticed anything or anyone unusual in the weeks leading up to the crime. Reid and Klein, go to the morgue and see if you can see anything on the bodies that Bartlesville missed. I’ll rendezvous with Garcia and Bartlesville PD and get started on pulling the relevant files.”

Everyone nodded, shuffling their papers and folders into briefcases and bags before preparing to land. Maybe _this_ is what was going to kill the aged vampire.

There were three standard issue black SUVs waiting for them when they deplaned. Aaron got in a car with JJ and Emily. Spencer and Elizabeth slid into their SUV and headed into the small Oklahoman town. Elizabeth pulled her dark auburn hair back into a tight ponytail and stared out the window possibilities racing through her mind. “If the unsub is a vampire you have to kill them, right?”

She looked over at him, predatory vertical pupils searching his face for a trace of judgement. All she could find were the smallest traces of curiosity. “Yes. The law is very clear on this. If a vampire kills a human, the punishment is instant death. Its supposed to equalize our inherent power differences or something like that.”

Spencer’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t seem congruent with the justice system at all.”

Elizabeth shrugged and picked at the skin around her nails. “There were a lot of things that we decided to trade on in order to have most of the same rights as people. Inter-species marriage was a big one that we gave up a lot for.”

“Are you married?”

“No. Never have been. You?”

“Nope. I thought I might once but,” he swallowed and focused on the road. “She died.”

Elizabeth winced. “My apologies.”

“We’re here,” he announced suddenly throwing the car in park.


	3. Morgue

The chemical smell of the morgue would have covered up the scent of decay if she was mortal. But there it was cloying in her sensitive nostrils, the fluorescent lights humming loudly in her ears. Dr. Reid was signing them in and getting paper copies of the autopsy reports to look over. Idly she wondered what his issue with technology was. The rest of the team, herself included, got all their files via tablet or smartphone; but not the doctor. He motioned her over and she followed him through the double doors to the autopsy theater.

Their victims were laid out on identical metal tables side by side. The attendant who lead them back whispered in the coroner's ear as they came in and his eyes snapped to her. "You have some gall coming in here."

Elizabeth blinked a few times looking between herself and Doctor Reid then back to the county coroner. "Excuse me?"

She forced her tone to be calm, even though she could feel agitation rising through her veins. The coroner continued. "Your kind did this and you have the audacity to walk in here pretending to care about humans."

A sigh left her lips and she resisted the urge to rub her temples. Before she could answer Spencer interjected. "Special Agent Klein is here as a member of the BAU to investigate these crimes. We have not determined whether or not these crimes were committed by vampires or not."

"And if they were," Elizabeth said coldly. "My job is to remove them from society in whatever way necessary."

This seemed to satisfy the coroner who began to go over the report. "The first victim has fifteen slashing wounds, we can tell from the tissue that these were done peri-mortem. None of the wounds transected a major artery or organ, but we've still ruled cause of death as exsanguination due to the missing blood. The number of wounds escalates with each victim with the most recent having thirty wounds in total."

"Have you determined the cause of the facial expressions?" Spencer's brow furrowed, sliding gloves over his hands as he moved the heads from side to side looking into the open jaws. 

The coroner shook his head. "Not conclusively. We think it's possible the perpetrator posed them post-mortem and used something to keep their mouths open until rigor could set in." 

Elizabeth involuntarily shivered and approached the body of the second victim. There was a familiar smell that she couldn't quite place. "Do the detectives think the unsub stayed at the scene for an extended period of time after he killed them?" 

He nodded. "Time of death on all three was about five hours before discovery. We think whoever was there at least three hours."

Spencer moved a hand over the first victim's shoulder, feeling something. "What is this on her arm?"

The coroner looked through his report. "It appears to be some type of contact dermatitis."

Spencer shook his head and looked over at an attendant. "Do you have a black light," the attendant handed him one. "Can you turn off the lights please?" 

The attendant did, Elizabeth and the coroner moving to look over Spencer's shoulder. He found the place again with his fingers and maneuvered the beam of light until it revealed a design. There was a 'V' surrounded by scroll work and smudged below the border was a letter that she couldn't make out. He checked the other two and found the same design on each victim but with different letters underneath the scroll work. "What is that?" The coroner asked. 

Elizabeth sighed and took a step back. "It's for a vampire club. I'm going to take a wild guess and say the tiny letter is their blood type. All three of our victims went to the same club." 

The lights came back up and her eyes struggled to adjust quickly to the bright light. Spencer looked over at the coroner, quickly processing the information he was given. "Did you find any evidence of healed bite wounds on any of the victims?"

"No, and we checked thoroughly. What with the missing blood and all."

Elizabeth couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling in the back of her head that she knew that smell. It wasn't just decomp, though that was there also. She approached the body of the second victim. Ashley Harris, thirty-five, manager at a local grocery chain, single, had a dog who she loved, only child her parents loved her desperately. Her blue eyes focused on her face, frozen in fear, and searched for something to help discern the scent. "Was there anything else found on the body? Any chemical traces or anything like that?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Something doesn't smell right," she mumbled moving to the woman's side.

Spencer moved beside her and attempted to smell what she was. "All I can smell is the morgue antiseptic." 

Elizabeth closed her eyes and focused on her feet, pulling shadows from under the autopsy table. They traveled up her pants leg and out her sleeve tentatively going to touch the woman's arm. It recoiled the instant it made contact, shooting back into her sleeve going to curl around her neck. "Holy water," she intoned, eyes narrowing. 

A look of concern passed over the morgue attendants face. "So a vamp couldn't have done this." 

"Well-"

"Holy water doesn't mean anything," the coroner interrupted, brows furrowed in anger. "This could still be one of those-" he paused staring at Elizabeth who only raised a brow in response. "Creatures."

"Given the presence of holy water it makes it less likely that a vampire is involved in that aspect of the crime." Spencer spoke calmly as he sent a message to Penelope so she could update the team.

Elizabeth checked her own phone seeing a message from Hotch. "We need to head back to the precinct. The others have some important information," she turned to the coroner. "Please let us know if you find anything else." 

Turning on her heel, she moved swiftly out of the room quick walking to the SUV waiting outside. The sun beat down on her pale skin, causing the building headache to grow into a migraine. This case had gotten intensively stranger. Blood loss points to a vamp, lack of trace evidence points to a vamp, no signs of forced entry all vamp. But the holy water made it impossible. She was half a millennia old and the stuff still burned her skin. If she were younger it would practically be acid.

Spencer joined her at the car. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and offered a small smile. "Yes, sorry. Still adjusting to being awake in the day time. I'm not overly fond of fluorescent lights add that to the holy water and I just needed some air." 

The two got in the car and sped away, heading back toward the temporary headquarters. The rest of the team was waiting in a room with a long table. Her shoulders tensed, there were eyes on her but she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of meeting their glances. She was here to do a job, the lives on the line were more important than her pride. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself as they met up with the team. They took turns filling them in on what they discovered at the morgue; particularly the club stamp.

"That matches up with what we gathered from the families," Prentiss interjected. "The parents heavily implied that their daughters had recently started going to vampire clubs. If they met someone there they didn't know. We should have Garcia comb through phone records and social media and see if they had anyone in common." 

Derek nodded. "Rossi and I found something at the scene, or rather we discovered something was missing at the scene. All three victims were missing keys or garage door openers which might explain the lack of forced entry."

"Do we have any information on the club?" JJ's asked, looking over at Hotchner. 

"It's outside Bartlesville's jurisdiction so there's not much they have other than the odd traffic incident or noise complaint. There is a group of protestors we could talk to that stand just off the club's property every night." 

The deputy chief piped up at this. "They don't like cops, feds even less. You're going to have a hard time getting anything useful out of them." 

"What about the club owners," Rossi added. "Would they be any help?" 

The deputy, officer McCallum, shook his head. "Cops aren't welcome there. You have to do some kind of freaky vampire shit to even get in the door." 

Elizabeth's eyebrow raised, almost of its own accord. "What kind of 'freaky vampire shit' are you talking about?" 

He at least had the manners to fake sheepishness. "There's some kind of test you have to pass to get in, and humans have to have an escort to get in."

Aaron sent a look to Elizabeth and she groaned internally. She hated vampire politics. "Morgan, you and Klein go to the club and discreetly see what information you can find out. We don't want to tip off the unsub. JJ you and Reid go talk to the protestors and see if they'll talk to us. Prentiss, coordinate with Garcia and see if our victims had anyone in common. Dave, you and I will start going through the list of registered vampires in the area and see if we can dig anything up."


	4. Club

Elizabeth turned her phone over and over in her hand, biting her lip and looking pensively into the middle distance. She had to keep reminding herself that lives were on the line. That those lives mattered more than the uncomfortable phone call she was going to have to make. Instincts took over and she dialed the number and listened to the dial tone until a warm female voice answered. “Elizabeth, my favorite underling, how are you darling?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to calm herself. “I’m doing well Martǎ, and yourself?”

Martǎ smiled and leaned back onto her chaise and propped her feet up on a nearby table. “As well as I can be, I suppose. You know how these American politicians are. ‘You’re immoral damned monsters’ Blah blah blah yada yada yada.”

Elizabeth sighed and leaned back against the wall. “I am very glad not to be in your shoes, but I didn’t call to talk about politics. I need a bit of intel and a favor.”

Martǎ chuckled, cigarette between her lips, and pulled smoke into her mouth. Slowly it curled out from her lips as she spoke. “What can I do for you Schätzchen?” 

“I need information on a feeder club in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. And,” she sucked in a breath and prepared herself. “I need entrance to that club.”

The matriarch let out a peal of laughter. “You? In a club?! Oh please, please, _please_ take pictures!”

“I’m working, Martǎ, not going on a field trip.” Elizabeth felt warmth spreading across her face.

“Well as you know, _Liebling_ , all vampire bars must follow US federal alcohol laws. So, no one under twenty-one is allowed in unless that place also serves food. But there are also laws that specifically govern how vampire bars operate. Humans must be accompanied by a vampire, no religious artifacts, no mind tricks, and no feeding allowed,” she paused, and Elizabeth could almost hear her smiling. “And of course, there is a dress code and given that you are _my_ representative you simply must dress the part. When you return to your hotel room, you’ll find an outfit for you.”

“ ** _Mart_** ** _ǎ_** , I am- “

“At work,” her voice went nasal as she mocked Elizabeth. “But you are _my representative_ to other vampires _and_ humans in this country. I made sure it was work appropriate.”

Elizabeth hung up and rubbed her temples. She shuffled back into the room where the rest of the team was waiting. Her eyes moved up to Hotchner’s and nods. “We have entrance to the club arranged.”

"Good, you can head there-"

"Actually, Hotch, I uh-" red flooded her face and she dropped eye contact. "I have to change." 

Morgan raised an eyebrow, smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Oh, you don't have to dress up for me. I'm not picky." 

Elizabeth grit her teeth. "In order to get entrance to the club I had to call my matriarch. Even though I'm on a case, she sent an envoy with different clothes." 

Emily let out a small laugh. "What is a blazer suit not appropriate for a club?" 

Elizabeth relaxed a bit and laughed. "Apparently not. I _really_ hate vampire politics." 

The team broke up, heading toward their different assignments. Elizabeth stripped her pantsuit exchanging it for a loose silk top and tight black trousers. Her eyes narrowed at the lack of sleeves. It was less than ideal. There wouldn't be a way for her to hide all her scars. _They were going to see them eventually._ She reminded herself and quickly returned to the SUV. 

"So, what are we walking into Klein? Is this going to be some haunted house? An orgy?" 

"Truly, I don't know. I hope it's classier than all that, but my hopes are very low." 

The flat landscape passed by uninterrupted until they arrived at the club, nowhere in the surrounding area to hide. Once they got about a mile from the club “For Sale” signs dotted the front yards of most of the houses. “I guess no one wants to live near a vampire club. We should try and contact the real estate agents and find out if anyone has been by to look at the houses. Maybe the Unsub either broke in or posed as a buyer?”

Derek nodded and flipped open his phone, hitting Garcia’s speed dial. “Baby girl, tell me something sweet.”

“Ooh Derek Morgan you chocolate god, don’t tease me,” Elizabeth felt a flush climb up her ears _did they always talk like this_. “Give mama some sugar, whatchya got?”

“Can you get JJ a list of realtors in the area immediately surrounding the club? Klein and I are noticing _a lot_ of empty houses.”

“Oh, Draculina is there too?”

Elizabeth smiled at the nickname. “Yes Miss Garcia, I’m here.”

There was a squeak, and then a rush of talking. “Gotta jet, I’ll hit ya back when I know something.” 

The club was a plain cylinder block building, a parking lot stretched along the backside towards a sparse covering of trees. The roof was flat and recessed in, allowing for the six, armed, vampire guards on top to remain mostly hidden from view. They were dressed in a cross between bouncer and swat. Black sunglasses, short sleeve shirts, jeans, Kevlar vest, black ball cap, and combat boots. They paced back and forth along the roof eyes trained on the people protesting. Even without looking too hard she could tell they were on edge; they were using every ounce of their power from their bloodline to take in and assess the protestors outside.

The protesters spread out along the border of the parking lot holding up signs and chanting. The demographic skewed mostly to middle aged white men, with a handful of women to bring in the “diversity”. Their loud yells hit her sensitive ears and echoed with violent intention. "Fangers burn in hell! No soul no rights!" 

Elizabeth and Derek walked around the crowd, heads down and focused on the task at hand. Ignoring the screaming and sign waving, they went up to the bouncer at the door. 

He was tall, broad shouldered, with a dark complexion. Identical sunglasses hid his eyes like the men on the roof; he was one of her kind. His voice boomed. "Names?" 

"Elizabeth Klein and Derek Morgan." 

He took out a tablet and scrolled up a little until he found their names. "Proof of ID?"

Derek and Elizabeth flashed their badges and they started to walk in, the bouncer stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Proof of ID, Ms. Klein." 

She took a step back, eyes narrowing and predatory pupils sharpening. "Release me. _Immediately_." 

"I'm sorry Ms. Klein, but I must insist. Rules are rules. A human must be escorted." 

Her fangs lengthened moving into place with a click, eyes immediately going from blue to muddy red. "I said, **_release me immediately_**." 

Derek's hand went to his gun, Elizabeth’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two men, the bouncer stepped back raising his hands. "Just doing my job guys, welcome to Club Sanguine." 

They stepped through the door and were greeted by a strangely quiet environment. There seemed to be no one around. "Is this what clubs are normally like, Morgan?"

“Why would you think I know?” His hands went to his chest in an act of mock innocence.

She chuckled and offered him a small shrug. “Profiler instincts.”

He laughed. "No, normally there's a lot more drinking and bad decisions happening." 

Once they got further in, the illusion magic snapped suddenly everything changing in a blink. It was dark, regular lightbulbs replaced with something dimmer and flickering. A few tables dotted the edges of the dance floor, framing the mass of people in the middle who seemed to writhe against each other. With the illusion cloaking the club interior being gone the illusion covering her scars snapped away too. And she immediately tensed. 

Her neck, arms, and chest were covered in scars of different lengths and thicknesses. Derek's voice reached her ears. "Jesus! Klein, what happened to you?!" 

"It's a long story. But about two hundred years ago I got caught up in the inquisition in Spain and they attempted to torture the devil out of me." 

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. It was a long time ago,” she sighed and let her shoulders drop back down from where they had tensed up. “Don't tell anyone, please. I'm not ready for everyone to know about them quite yet." 

He nodded and his eyes swept across the club until they landed on a booth in a corner. There sat a tall, blonde vampire surrounded by more guards. These ones were different, wearing suits with barely visible earpieces and _very_ visible guns. The blonde man leaned over and whispered to one of his guards, indicating to the agents with one long spindly finger. Two of the guards stood up and walked their way.

“I believe,” Elizabeth drawled looking up at Derek with her head cocked to the side. “We’re being summoned.”

“Ya think?” He crossed his muscular arms over his chest and sized up the men walking towards them.

The two bodyguards made their way around the crowd and then came to stand directly in front of them. “Your presence is requested by Mr. Soliana.”

Elizabeth sneered, making sure to show an edge of fang. “We decline.”

Derek moved to stand behind her, towering over her smaller frame to level a stare at the two. “We’re here on official business.”

“The only reason you are even in here is because of Mr. Soliana’s generosity. You _will_ pay your respects.” The dark-haired guard stepped towards her baring his fangs, his partner put a hand on his chest and pushed him back a bit.

The other man spoke in a more levelheaded tone. “I assume you would like to talk to Mr. Soliana about the women who have been murdered in Bartlesville. Now is the only free time in his schedule.”

Klein looked up at Morgan gauging what his reaction was. He gave her a quick nod and they followed the men over toward the corner booth. Once they arrived the two men stood on either side of the agents. Two more men sat in the booth on either side of the blonde vampire who stared up at them with icy blue eyes regarding them cooly. “Elisabeta, your reputation precedes you. Your matriarch spoke very highly of you, though between you and me,” he drawled taking a long drink of wine that smelled vaguely not of wine. “I don’t see why you’re under anyone’s rule. You’re more than old enough and powerful enough, or so I’ve heard, to lead your own group. And yet here you are, not under one thumb but _two_. Truly an enigma of a woman.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “I assume you know why we’re here?”

“Yes, yes. Those murders, truly dreadful. I don’t see what they have to do with me.”

“We have information that the victims came here before they were murdered,” Derek spoke up.

“To _my_ club? Ugh how inconvenient. We get enough bad press from those protestors outside and now murder.”

“Yes, I’m sure those women’s last thoughts as they died involved your club Mr. Soliana.”

“Please, we’re equals, call me Roman.”

“Well, Roman,” Morgan interjected narrowing his eyes. “Any information you give us on who escorted those women would be helpful.”

“I’ll give you the information you need,” he smirked and took another long drink of wine. “ _If_ you say something about how absolutely helpful I and my community were in this matter.”

“ _Or_ you could just help because women are being murdered.” Morgan barked back.

“As a vampire citizen I have the same rights as you. You can either meet me halfway like this, or you can try and get a warrant. Which I will tell you now, will not be easy for you, I have the best lawyers in this hemisphere.”

Elizabeth looked at the senior agent, she was unsure what the protocol on this normally was. Derek grit his teeth. “I have to make a call,” and with that he walked a little way off staying within eye line.

“Humans are so sensitive,” Roman rolled his eyes and relaxed back into the booth. “I don’t know why you bother with them, Elisabeta. They’re below us.”

“We are the same as them,” the sad smile on her face betrays centuries. “No better, no worse, just the same bad source material with a few edits. We are the Fifty Shades of Grey of humanity.”

Roman laughed and took another swig of wine, emptying the glass. “Oh, what the great Elizabeth Klein is some depressive vampire? I think not. I’ve heard the stories about you, how you’ve trod through the waist high blood of the innocents. Maybe we’re not better than humans, but _you_ are certainly worse.”

She met his eyes, cold and emotionless. “And if I find out you’re behind these murders, I will add your blood to that pool. I will rip your heart out while it still pathetically beats, and I will smile. And do you know why?”

His face drained of color, somehow becoming paler than it was naturally. But to his credit he responded voice dry and light. His guards drew closer around her, cutting off avenues of attack. “Why?”

“Because I will have the sanction of two governments behind me to end your waste of an unlife. And with that sanction I will end you in whatever way ensures there isn’t an atom of you left.”

Derek came back and could feel the tension between the two vampires. “JJ gave us the go-ahead to include Club Sanguine in the upcoming press conference. Does that satisfy you?”

Elizabeth sent a wry smirk at the other vampire. “Does it, Mr. Soliana?”

He grit his teeth. “Of course, anything to help catch this fiend. Send them all the files they need,” he jerked his head toward one of the guards who took the email Morgan provided and went off to do as he was told. “Now if that’ll be all agents. I do have a business to run.”


	5. Ash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people reading this! To make up for it taking me so long to finish chapter four I decided to work real hard to finish up chapter five! Thank you all so much for your kind reviews and kudos. I'm glad you're liking it so far :)

They stepped out of the club and back into the late afternoon. The sun burned red in the sky as it slowly sank towards the horizon and Elizabeth felt a weight lift off her. She let out a cool breath, eyes drifting shut as she pulled the illusion back around her; skin smoothing back out. Morgan looked at her with a raised brow. "You wanna tell me what happened back there?" 

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she couldn't stop the small smirk that tugged at the corner of her mouth. 

"Oh really," he turned to face her, dark eyes boring into her blue ones. "Because when I walked away to call JJ, Roman Soliana was a pompous ass. And when I got back lo and behold, he was way more agreeable and somehow even paler." 

Elizabeth shrugged. "I may have  _ gently _ reminded him just what my roll here entails." 

Morgan scoffed. "Klein, if that's what gentle looks like I'm not sure I want to see rough."

She laughed. "No, you probably don't. And hopefully you won't." 

They climbed back in the SUV and made their way back to the Bartlesville precinct. Elizabeth tried to compile the facts they had so far. Fact one, the victims were cut up not bitten. Fact two, the victims were all women in their thirties who were either single or lived alone. Fact three, victims were posed postmortem. Fact four, no signs of forced entry, keys and garage door openers missing suggests unsub let himself in. Fact five, victims were soaked in holy water at some point to such a degree that it survived on the skin after an autopsy was performed. Fact six, all three victims went to the same club. Fact seven, bodies were found drained of all blood. Fact eight, crime scenes were eerily pristine with no signs of struggle. 

It was a weird puzzle where some of the pieces seemed to be from different sets. The degree of violence and staging leaned very male to her. Knives often served as a substitute for sexual penetration suggesting that the unsub was impotent in some way. She was also beginning to lean towards this being a human, but then the missing blood didn't make any sense. The only way to make that puzzle piece fit was to say they were killed somewhere else and dumped in their homes. But why? Why take the risk of moving a body? What was the significance of the facial expressions and posing? She had more questions than answers and she  _ hated  _ it. 

They arrived at the precinct and met back up with the team. It seemed JJ and Spencer were still talking with the protesters so they had a moment to breathe before they went over everything they learned. She broke off from the team and made a b-line for the coffee maker. The pain in her head was returning and she couldn't afford to be distracted. Coffee was good and she enjoyed the taste, but this particular cup of coffee was more to disguise the fact that she needed blood. Hunger roared in her stomach; not quite ravenous but any level of hunger was dangerous when she was being watched so closely. Her eyes darted around quickly and made sure no one was currently watching her. Thankfully the cops seemed to be focused on their jobs. As quick as possible, she took out a small metal flask from her pocket and dumped the coppery smelling contents into her cup of joe. The two aromas mixed and drifted up to her nostrils in a symphony that helped to relax her tensed muscles. 

Her ears picked up on Reid's peculiar voice as he entered the building, talking quickly and animatedly with JJ about the complexities of the protesters they had talked to. Seems like they were an interesting group. Elizabeth downed her coffee concoction quickly and ducked back into the room so they could debrief. Aaron spoke up first. "David and I went over the state's vampire records and found none with any abilities that would allow them to get in and out of a building without leaving a single trace. We did pull some records on some with breaking and entering convictions. So we'll start there. Prentiss what did you and Garcia find coming through communications and social media?" 

Emily took a remote and pointed it at a white board. The victim's social media profiles pulled up and the team looked over them. "We found no connection between the victims or anyone they interacted with on social media. Other than the fact that they all lived in Bartlesville they led completely separate lives. However, once we looked outside of social media, we did find the women used similar chat boards. Not the same ones mind you, but they all shared a common theme in that they were aimed at human women who had a vampire fetish." 

"What did they talk about on these message boards?" Spencer looked up from his notepad to confirm. 

Emily clicked a button on the remote and a few threads popped up detailing vivid sexual fantasies involving vampire lovers. Elizabeth felt red creep into her face reading over the  _ extremely  _ detailed scenes these women had dreamt up. "It seems that they exchanged fantasies with other like minded individuals. Garcia is cross checking the registered members to see if there's any overlap, but you don't have to have an account to read these comments." 

Hotch nodded. "JJ, what did you and Reid find out talking to the protesters?" 

JJ sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Nothing very useful other than they blame the vampires for their property values dropping and obviously the murders." 

Morgan nodded. "Klein and I noticed all the empty houses on the way to the club. We're waiting to hear back from the realtors to go take a look. The unsub might have taken advantage of the empty houses for a hunting ground." 

"Anything interesting from the club owner?" Rossi asked, looking up from the report on his tablet. 

Elizabeth nodded. "It was like the Deputy Chief said. You need an escort to get in if you're human. Mr. Soliana was kind enough to provide us with the records starting about a month before the killings began. I don't think he had anything to do with it though." 

Hotch looked at her with an arched brow. "What makes you say that?" 

Elizabeth shrugged. "He's a power hungry narcissist for sure, but he's too attached to that power to risk it on murder." 

"Are you sure," Prentiss asked, turning to face the vampire. "Humans have the death penalty and they still commit murder." 

"Yes, but your death penalty takes a very long time and the people involved are offered appeals and chances to not be executed. Vampires… not so much." 

Emily nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "So what are our next steps?" 

Hotch checked his watch and made a glance towards the window. "It's almost night time. Let's split up and interview our victim's escorts. Reid and Klein, JJ and Morgan, Emily and Rossi; take a file and go do a basic interview with these men. Get alibis if they have any, look for stressors, see if they noticed anyone lurking. I'm going to coordinate with local PD to get started searching the empty properties." 

Elizabeth looked across the room to the youngest of the agents. He was more closed off than his teammates, and that made her uneasy. She didn't like not being able to read people. He moved quickly, grabbing one of the three folders of the women's dates. Brandon Olson. Allison Kendal, victim number three's, date. Spencer read out his details. "Age twenty-five, has only been a vampire for a year, bartends at Club Sanguine, lives alone." 

Her eyes widened just a little bit. "Wow he's young in all senses of the word. Be on your toes, the babies can be a little unpredictable sometimes." 

He met her eyes, holding her gaze for a moment before quickly looking away. With a nod he dropped the regular clip out of his gun, and switched it for what she had to assume was silver ammunition. She did the same, not that she necessarily needed the gun but it was standard protocol. They loaded up into the SUV and in no time arrived at Brandon's house. 

It was a small house, sitting a little ways back from the road surrounded by forest on the back and left side. All the lights were off and there was no noise other than the crunch of gravel under the car's tires. The quiet made her uneasy. The sun had set and the moon was starting to crest the treetops, the occupant of the house should be awake and getting ready for work. But there was no movement. She started moving forward first, putting a finger to her lips and drawing her gun with her free hand. Spencer followed, drawing his weapon from its holster and quietly walking behind her. As they got closer she noticed that the door was only barely closed; but with a slight push it swung open. 

She held up her hand and Spencer paused behind her. Something wasn't right. There was a chill in the air. Darkness stretched into every corner. The only sounds came from the hum of appliances in the kitchen. Elizabeth sighed internally and channeled the shadows around her, eyes bleeding to red, and sent them out through each room. They found nothing. She holstered her gun and moved inside gesturing for Spencer to follow her in. They did a sweep of the whole house and found no trace of Brandon Olson. Though after checking the garage the car was still there. That's when she noticed a door on the back of the house. Her heart seized in her chest. The sensitivity of her ears could pick up whispers several feet away. But this wasn't a whisper. This was a  **scream;** someone was in pain behind that door. 

"Stay here, call for backup." She started heading towards the basement door. 

"I'm coming with you." His gun was drawn up and ready, eyes focused ahead. 

She growled a bit but didn't argue. They descended down the stairs and her heart sank. There was Brandon Olson laying on the ground, black veins standing out against his pale skin. He writhed in pain, eyes wildly darting around until it landed on the agents. "Please… help… me…" 

Elizabeth came to his side and knelt down to brush his blonde hair out of his face. "What happened to you, sweet child?" 

He panted in exertion and tried to keep her eye contact. "I don't know, I woke up down here and he put something in me. Please. It hurts!" 

She dropped to the ground and gently moved his head into her lap and continued to run her hands through his curly blonde hair. "I know, my dear, I know. It will be over soon." 

"I'm scared! I don't want to die!" 

A soft smile crossed her face and she couldn't bring herself to look at Dr. Reid. Her fingers went to his temples and she took his pain into herself. Silver nitrate burned through his veins. She could tell it was almost done poisoning his heart. Elizabeth started to hum and held his face in her hands. "Is there anything I can do for you? Do you have any relatives?"

"My mom," his voice was getting softer and his eyes started to drift shut. "Can you tell her I love her and I'm sorry?" 

She nodded and held him; the silver finally seized his heart. His body crumbled to dust and drifted to the ground. A breath she didn't know she was hiding escaped from her lips and fat red tears rolled down her face. "Elizabeth? Are you alright?" 

His voice brought her back to the moment. Back to the ash covering her pants. Back to the case. She stood and had to stop herself from brushing her pants off; instead she looked around the basement. She found a dustpan, broom, a container, and transferred the young man's remains into it. His mother might want them. "I'm fine," she brushed the blood red tears off her face with the back of her hand. "We need to report back ASAP and give the others a heads up. They might be walking into similar circumstances." 

Reid nodded and went up the stairs, already dialing the pertinent numbers. She could have listened in if she wanted to but honestly she didn't have the energy. The container of ash in her hands was still warm. The vampire was not looking forward to delivering this young man's remains to his mother. Her jaw clenched in an effort to keep her fangs from lengthening; body shaking with barely contained rage. 

Once she had collected herself enough to be around her partner she climbed back up the stairs to be met with the rest of the team. "What happened," Hotchner's voice was a welcome balm to her irritations, straight to the point very businesslike. 

"It appears Mr. Olson was injected with silver nitrate a day or two ago. He's been stuck in his basement since. Said he didn't get a look at his attacker. I'm sure it was the same person who killed our three victims." Elizabeth handed the container of ash to JJ. "Could you find his mother? He wanted her to know he was sorry and that he loved her." 

JJ nodded and gingerly took the container from her. Elizabeth looked at the other members. "What happened when you went to the other dates?" 

Emily was quick with an answer. "They all had alibis. We're going to run them down tomorrow. Assuming they check out I think we'll have a grasp on where to go with the profile." 

"Alright team, go get some rest. We'll deliver the profile in the morning." Hotch turned to talk to the deputy chief and the rest of the team dispersed to the vehicles and headed towards the hotel. 


	6. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we get a bit of backstory, TW for mild torture, and maybe a little fluff ;) Thank you again for all your kind reviews

Immediately upon entering the hotel the group split off. The humans talked among themselves about where they were going to eat before turning in for the night. Elizabeth had no desire to eat anything solid. Giving a small wave, she headed off towards the elevators. It took every ounce of her remaining energy to hold off the shaking in her muscles until she was out of view. Once her feet hit the elevator it started. They started in her arms, and by the time she reached her door the shaking had moved to her legs. Unceremoniously, she tumbled through the door.

Her hands tore at her clothes, ripping until the fabric was mere scraps that fell off her body. Glamour faded from her skin revealing the myriad of thick raised scars crisscrossing from ankles to neck. Scrambling like a baby giraffe she crawled over to the bathroom and retched the blood-coffee mixture until she was left dry heaving. Blood red eyes closed, pale skin resting against the cool porcelain. Her breath came out in sharp high wheezes. A few moments passed and her breathing calmed to normal. She reopened her eyes, the red fading away as she regained composure. Still shaking Elizabeth summoned a tendril of shadow to turn on the shower; cranking the hot water up as high as it would go. Once in the shower she scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at her skin until it glowed pink under the harsh lighting and the hot water ran out.

Hotel beds are notorious for being rock-like, dirty, and uncomfortable. But the moment the elder vampire hit the mattress with a flop it felt like heaven. For a moment she considered grabbing the laptop from the bedside and filling out her report for the day. It was brief and interrupted by the exhaustion pulling at her very core. She went to sleep without even having to try too hard; which hadn’t happened in about a century.

Sleep was not peaceful though.

_She went to roll over and found that she couldn’t move. Her eyes flew open and darted around the room. The stones around her were bathed in light from torches. Chains and implements of torture adorned the wall, the last person’s blood still clinging to the metal. Elizabeth tried to bolt, run far away from this place but as she pulled against her restraints, they burned into her flesh. A hiss loosed her clenched fangs. **Silver.** Panic started to rise in her chest as she continued to take in her situation. She was bound to the table and found her outer clothing gone, leaving her bare on the splintered wood. Wrists, ankles, and her neck were cuffed to the board by silvered manacles. _

_It didn't take long until she found out the who and why of her imprisonment. After a few days of being cut open and having holy water poured in the wounds; she lost track of time. Every night she came to consciousness once again she cursed the gods. Every day they came to her cell, demanding repentance demanding she beg for forgiveness. But even if she wanted to, she lacked the energy to even open her eyes._

_The torture continued. Scars started to boom across her skin like sickening morning glories, twisting up and consuming every spare bit of flesh it could. The table she had been shackled to began to smell more like blood than wood every day. Elizabeth refused to die at the hands of these "holy" men._

_She had heard rumors of vampires who could move like liquid shadows across the ground. If she had any hope of escape it was this. Every day she tried to call the flickering shadows to her. Every day she focused on the way they moved on the walls. So alive and yet not. Exactly as she was. Days turned to weeks turned to months. But finally, she was able to free herself._

Klein woke with a scream strangling in her throat. Hands clenching the sheets beneath her as she bolted upright. Red eyes frantically darted around the room ensuring she was indeed in Bartlesville and not Spain. A soft knock at the door interrupted her frenzy. "Who is it?" Emotion choked her voice. 

There was a small pause. "It's Spencer er- Reid." 

She detangled herself from the sheets and padded over to the door, opening it a crack to peek through. "What can I do for you Dr. Reid?" 

He ducked a bit to meet her eyes, mentally noting the shift in eye color. "Could I come in?" 

She paused for a second taking a deep breath. "Yes, of course. Give me one moment please." 

He gave a small nod and an assuring smile. She shut the door and quickly threw something resembling pajamas on. Returning to the door she took a breath, turned on the light, and opened the door. The young doctor took a step through and looked around. No doubt taking in the rumpled sheets and bits of torn up clothing on the ground. She grimaced, imagining how she must look. The gods only knew how many directions her hair was sticking up in. A blush rose in her pale cheeks. 

"I was coming to check up on you after everything that happened today. How are you doing?" 

She let out a sigh and shut the door behind him and gestured to the chair and desk the hotel provided. He sat, brown eyes searching her face. She sat on the edge of the bed, folding her legs under her and took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Total honesty?"

He nodded and crossed one leg over the other. "Honesty is generally preferred."

Elizabeth laughed at his candor. "Honesty it is," she closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and let the glamour covering her scars fade. "That young man's death pulled some very uncomfortable memories that I had buried." 

She could feel his eyes moving along her exposed arms, following the path up across her tank top straps to her throat. Unconsciously, her left hand began to rub at the mound of scar tissue on her right wrist. Her eyes searched his face looking for disgust or horror, but he came across very neutral. "Do you mind if I ask what happened?" 

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she began telling him of her time at the inquisitor's. It was hard to strike a balance between details and vagueness, and his placid face wasn't giving her any indications either. Her hands continued to alternate in massaging the scar tissue on her wrists as she waited for his response, eyes dropping from his face. Long fingers grabbed her hands in their own, chocolate eyes moving to meet up with crimson. She met his eyes, feeling the warmth emanating from his skin as he held her hands lightly. "Are you alright now?" 

A flush bloomed across her cheeks. "Hm. I'm doing better, I think. I had a nightmare, a flashback, I guess. But I think I'm doing a little bit better. I probably need to eat." 

He nodded and dropped back. "Don't let me stop you. I was also hoping to run something by you about the case." 

Her eyes widened a fraction. But she took him at his word and fetched a blood back from her luggage. She pulled the length of the tubing and sucked on it like a straw. "What were you thinking about?" 

After a moment of watching her he pulled a notebook from his pocket and thumbed through it. "This unsub is strange." 

"Aren't they all," she chuckled a bit. "But I get what you're saying. A few things don't add up." 

"Well actually," he looked up at her, eyes moving across her face. "I think what you told me makes these killings make more sense."

Intrigued, she leaned forward. "How does something that happened _that_ long ago have any bearing on this case?" 

"I think the unsub is trying to cleanse the victims of their perceived sins." 

She nodded enthusiastically, taking a long gulp. "That would explain the holy water covering them. But where is the blood?" 

He bit his lip and put his notebook away. "I'm still not sure about that. But it goes a long way towards implicating vampires in the crimes. Which would do the double duty of also getting rid of the men they went on dates with."

She cursed internally for not coming up with that herself. "So, you think it's a human too?" 

He nodded. "From the research I've done it doesn't seem to follow how vampires typically kill people." 

After finishing her blood bag, she leaned back on her elbows, red eyes moving along the planes or his face. "And what do you think about those pesky vampires."

"Well your very existence defies science. It isn't logical that you can do the things you do." 

"I've never heard anyone describe me as illogical," she almost purred, color returning to her skin as the blood replenished her body. "It is rather flattering." 

"Flattering? In what way?" His brow furrowed as he looked over at her. 

"Well," she drawled, licking her lips and letting her eyes flutter shut. "Usually people call me a monster or a demon. I've also gotten succubus a few times which is fun. Which are emotionally charged and lack a logical base. But _illogical_ , that's an opinion based in fact. And I appreciate science more than people's emotions. I've watched science grow across the centuries and get refined. Emotions are the same across all oceans of time." 

He seemed to accept that answer and rose from his chair. "Thank you for going over this with me. I think it will help when we present the profile." 

"Before you go, Dr. Reid," she pushed herself to standing, dug through her briefcase until she found a small button, and held it out to him. "My thanks for talking through the nightmare with me." 

She dropped the pin into his open palm and watched his face for his reaction. His brow furrowed for a moment before he flipped it over and saw the design on the front. "No way! Is this vintage?" 

A grin crossed her face. "Yeah I got it in 1977 at the first Doctor Who convention. It was worth the discomfort of going into the church." 

"I couldn't possibly accept this!" He hurriedly tried to hand her back the pin. 

She laughed and took a step back, not letting the pin hit her hands. "Don't worry about it, I have another one. Keep it, I insist." 

He put the pin in his pocket. "Well thank you, I'll keep it safe." 

Another smile moved across her lips. "Excellent. Well I'll see you in the morning to deliver the profile." 

He nodded and smiled. "Yeah see you then. Thanks again." 

After closing the door behind him she ran a hand through her hair. Uncomfortable with the sudden warmth in her chest. 

\------------------------------------------------------------

**_Change of POV_ **

\-----------------------------------------------------------

_He moved in the shadows watching as she let that **monster** touch her. Kiss her. How disgusting. These women who lie with these glorified corpses. They're just as bad. How could they allow themselves to be polluted by these **demons**? Prostituting themselves. And for what?! They should be with their own kind! _

_The animal left and she waved after it like a lovesick girl. He'd deal with that freak later. Now he had to act quickly to save her eternal soul before it was devoured by the very flames of hell._

_They kept saying that they could coexist. But he'd show them. He'd show them all._


End file.
